Bucs look to claim second title in last four years at TPC Sawgrass

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 3, 2013) – The ETSU men’s golf team opens its spring season Monday morning at the Sea Best Invitational, which is hosted by Jacksonville University at the PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

Monday’s opening round will start at 8 a.m., and fans can follow the live scoring via Golfstat.com.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BUCS

The Bucs return to action for the first time since finishing fourth at the Warrior Wave Invitational back on Nov. 7 in Kauai, Hawaii. Sophomore Scott Gibson (Southerness, Scotland) led the Blue and Gold by placing 12th at 1-under-par 215 in the three-day tournament, while a pair a freshmen tied for 13th. Gudmundur Kristjansson (Reykjavik, Iceland) and Adrian Meronk (Wroclaw, Poland) both finished at even-par 216.

ABOUT THE THIS WEEK’S TOURNAMENT

The Sea Best Invitational is hosted by Jacksonville University and the tournament features 36 holes of play on Monday, while the teams will wrap up with the final 18 on Tuesday.

ETSU – who won the tournament back in 2010 – finished sixth last season. The Bucs bested nationally-ranked Wake Forest and Clemson to win the title back on Feb. 9, 2010. Last season, Rhys Enoch (Cornwall, England) tied for second at 2-over-par 218, which was two strokes back of tournament champion T.J. Vogel of Florida. Meanwhile, Gibson posted a top 25 finish by placing for 24th with a three-round score of 229.

THE FIELD

The Bucs will be joined by host Jacksonville, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, Florida Gulf Coast, Francis Marion, Georgia State, Jacksonville State, Old Dominion, Tennessee, Texas A&M, USC Upstate, Winthrop, and Wofford. Texas A&M (26th), Tennessee (32nd), and Coastal Carolina (47th) are all ranked in the top 50 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin ratings. ETSU is paired with Jacksonville State and Winthrop.

THE COURSE

The PLAYERS Stadium Course plays 7,122 yards and is a par-72. Home of THE PLAYERS Championship, birthplace of the TPC (Tournament Players Club) Network, and backdrop to the PGA TOUR headquarters, the TPC Sawgrass golf course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., is perhaps the world’s most famous golf course. THE PLAYERS Stadium Course sports one of the most recognizable and challenging holes on the PGA Tour. The notorious par-3, 17th hole, features an island green that makes or breaks many a PGA TOUR pro’s round.

THE PLAYERS Stadium Course was built to challenge the pros like no other golf course had done before, while providing an unprecedented experience for spectators at the same time.

TPC Sawgrass is not only one of the top Florida golf resorts, but it is recognized nationally by multiple golf publications as a destination. THE PLAYERS Stadium course is ranked the No. 2 golf course in Florida by Golf Digest magazine and it ranks consistently among the Golf Digest’s top 50 golf courses in the country.

Golfweek honored THE PLAYERS Stadium Course as the top course you can play in Florida and ranked it ninth among the Best Resort Courses in 2011.

ETSU’S LINEUP

The Bucs’ lineup features the same group the Blue and Gold sent out all fall, which consists of two sophomores and three freshmen. Along with Gibson, Kristjansson and Meronk will be sophomore Rhys Pugh (Pontypridd, Wales) and freshman Chris Hickman (Centreville, Md.).

COVERAGE

Fans can follow all the scoring live on Golfstat.com, while full recaps with scores will be available at ETSUBucs.com following each round.

TEXTCASTER

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For more information on Buccaneer men’s golf, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s golf page.